I was a poll worker in Georgia again - and it was shameful

[lonehalf]

Only 72 voters in the runoff out of 1676 in total in our precinct.

One good thing - 30% were Democrats - The Republicans usually get 85% of the voters in our North Georgia county.


In the Primary election 36% were Democrats so our turnout is getting better.

One question for DUers - what constitutes a paper trail?

Heres what we do after the polls close.

The precinct manager prints out the results from each machine. She is watched by the Asst. manager and an observer (ne).

Then the Manager and asst. manager signs the printout. This is put into a sealed pouch which the manager takes to the Elections office. She also takes the flash disks. So, you would have to have three people in cahoots to cheat. Is this not considered a "paper trail? If not, tell me what is.

I don't know what happens at the Election office but I'm told that there is always at least three people involved at every level.

Once again, I hate to say it, but the most obnoxious voters were Democrats. Even when we told them that the Diebold machines were brought in when Roy Barns was Governor, they didn't believe it. I was called a liar several times.

They seemed to want to blame us for the polling procedures.

But we just do it for the big bucks. 95$ for a 14 and 1/2 hour day.

Anyway, what kind of paper trail would satisify you?

[aintitfunny]

1. A Voter Verified Paper Ballot

that would enable a hand recount in the event of fraude or a discrepancy, memory damage, erasure, computer glitch, human error, etc., etc., etc.

The 3 individuals in the Georgia process are only counting, monitoring, observing that which the computer spits out. And that is the problem.

[MissWaverly]

2. thanks for trying to do the right thing

What I want is a ballot, after the machine does it's thing, so if there's a question it could
be counted, up here in Maryland I had no ballot and I saw my machine default to Bush 5 times
when I tried to vote for Kerry, to this day I do not know if I voted, if it was an overvote
or an undervote or if anyhing registered for Kerry at all and I had waited almost 2 hours to
vote and I was asked to show 2 forms of ID which are not required in Maryland. But if we
have to have machines; then why can't we have optical scanners, there are ballots; if there
is a question. I would not mind getting a slip of paper with my vote printed on it after I
am done, but I would much rather have a ballot that can be counted. Oh, and the vote count
at my precinct for the entire day = 944, but I know there was at least 400 people there when
I voted, since I waited for almost 2 hours.

[brer cat]

3. i would like a print out of my votes

that i could sign and agree the print out is the way i voted.

[lonehalf]

5. I have been voting for a long time and...

..I have never left the polls with anything that said how I voted.

I have voted using paper ballots, lever machines, punch cards and lately Diebold machines.

[livvy]

6. You wouldn't leave with the record of how you voted.

The paper ballot or receipt would stay at the polling place as a paper record of your vote. In the event there was a need, these paper ballots could be pulled and recounted.

[William Seger]

4. "...prints out the results from each machine."

The problem is right there at step 1: no way to verify that what the machine prints out is what the voters put in.

[LiberalFighter]

7. There are two different kinds of paper trails

In this case the proper paper trail would be to have the results of each race printed out for precinct chair in the precinct of each party and for candidate representatives. (If they ask or are there) What would be better in this case would be to have a duplicate of the flash disk made to ensure that if there is any reason to doubt the results the two could be compared to see if they are identical. MAYBE

The numbers should match. The number of signatures in the poll books should match the total shown on the machine. The numbers should be less than the total for each race. (Number of voters voting for Governor in Repug primary PLUS Number of voters voting for Governor in Democratic Primary should be equal or less than number of signatures in the poll books.)

When mechanical machines were used there was a big sheet of paper in the back of the machine. About 3 feet by 5 feet. The results were printed on them after the machines were locked down. Precinct chairs for each party would receive a copy and copies would be sent to the Election Board for tabulation. Election Board would not be the only party that had the results.


What happens if the flash cards get lost or damaged in process? Was a printout made of the results and transported seperately? Was there only one printout or at least two?

Was the precinct manager the only person transporting the packages or was there someone from a different party riding with them?


PAPER TRAIL FOR VOTERS... they get a receipt indicating the results of their vote in each race.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. The paper trail appears on the side of the machine

I voted on Diebold the other night with a paper trail. After you confirm your vote choices on the final screen, you hit the print button and the paper trail scrolls up from the bottom in a little window, maybe 10 inches high and 3 inches wide. In our case in Nevada it's on the left side although that might vary. It's where the black wing of the machine would otherwise be.

I had to lean forward and look down to check the paper trail since it wasn't exactly convenient for my height, nearly 6-4. The print is very small, perhaps 1/5 of an inch and the races run together. I had to refer to my sample ballot to make sure I had the correct name in the obscure races, then it took a few seconds to locate where I had left off on the paper trail.

All my choices were correct so I pushed the "Submit Your Vote" button. At that point the paper trail continues to scroll upward and out of sight, supposedly stored to facilitate a recount.

I prefer op-scan but mostly I'm thrilled punch cards are all but obsolete. Who knows how many damn elections we lost via that crap.

[derby378]

9. Sorry, but those votes were tallied by a private corporation

There isn't any paper trail in your case to speak of. Sorry you had to deal with that.

[Llewlladdwr]

10. What difference would a paper ballot really make?

Are you really going to go down to where the votes are being tallied in the event of a recount and verify that your particular ballot was there and was counted?

[TheWatcher]

11. Self-Delete

Either you get it or you don't.